Tally Hall to play ON A BOAT with April Smith, and I'll miss out.

So the world seems hell-bent on preventing me from seeing Tally Hall this year. So far, I've missed their Mercury Lounge show because I was too dumb to realise I could have parked somewhere that would have allowed me to take a later train back from the city. Last Friday, they played at the Bell House in Park Slope, and I missed that, too, because I thought it was on Saturday night and also I was at Northside.*

Now, they're playing a Rocks Off Concert Cruise show on 8th July, aboard the Half Moon, which is a Wednesday night and would be fantastic - if I weren't going to be in Florida that week. Bah!

More details :

Wednesday July 08th 2009
Rocks Off Concert Cruise Series
TALLY HALL
APRIL SMITH AND THE GREAT PICTURE SHOW
* ROCKS OFF CONCERT CRUISE - Aboard the Half Moon
* 7pm boarding / 8pm departure / 11pm return
* $25 adv / $30 day of show
This cruise is onboard the HALF MOON and will depart from Skyport Marina - 23rd & FDR Drive (EAST side). Boarding will begin at 7pm and the cruise will depart at 8pm SHARP. Don't be late - it ain't pretty to be standin on the dock, watching the party sailing away!

More information is here. For the record, I caught the last two songs of the amazing April Smith's set at the Cameo Gallery for Northside (for which Ross Federman of Tally Hall played drums, making it the third time this year I've crossed his path, including earlier that day on Bedford Ave. and at the OK Go show at MHoW where I was sitting RIGHT NEXT TO HIM and couldn't figure out where I'd seen him before - one day I'm going to actually go up to this kid and be like, "I see you EVERYWHERE" and then realise how creepy I sound), and was wholly disheartened that I didn't see more. Seriously, check the girl out.


*Speaking of Northside, I have three days of coverage to, um, cover, but my notes are currently stashed in my brother's iPod Touch and the photos in my other brother's Rebel XT. So when I get both elements I'll be sure to get that posted.

ETA: re: Tally Hall

ETA regarding this post from last night - I originally said "I don't think they've really been doing much lately, aside from wrapping up the T.H.I.S. (Tally Hall Internet Show). Although I could be mistaken."



Happily mistaken, then.

You can follow Tally Hall on Twitter here. Also, this :

New Tour Dates : Tally Hall on the road in May.

And now with venues noted:

15 May - The Blind Pig - Ann Arbor, MI
16 May - Subterranean - Chicago, IL
18 May - The Intersection (Front Bar) - Grand Rapids, MI
19 May - Mac's - Lansing, MI
20 May - Mr. Small's Theatre - Millvale, PA
21 May - DC9 - Washington, D.C.
22 May - Mercury Lounge - New York, NY
23 May - Middle East (up) - Cambridge, MA
24 May - Toquet Hall Student Coffeehouse - Westport, CT

I don't think they've really been doing much lately, aside from wrapping up the T.H.I.S. (Tally Hall Internet Show). Although I could be mistaken. From T.H.I.S. (episode seven) :

I'm glad you're not my ex-boyfriend (part two) : Tally Hall and The Republic Tigers at the Iron Horse, NoHo, 10/4/08 (Plus new records, etc.)

Iron Horse, NoHo, MA

Part one is over here.

I've explained this all before, but indulge me for a moment more: I saw Tally Hall in January '06 and wholly enjoyed their set, and then I put them on the back shelf in my mind and forgot about them until they recently announced a new tour and the rerelease of their debut record, Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum.

Like the Republic Tigers before them, Tally Hall played a laid back set: they were in a tiny space with less than 100 people there (I counted) and it was a late show. (Keep in mind that I'm also comparing this to when they opened to a sold-out crowd supporting OK Go at the much larger Paradise.) Regardless, two years has done them good: they're as solid and fun on-stage as ever.

Two years has done them good off-stage as well. I never had the original release of MMMM, but from what friends have said, it sounds fuller and better this time around. And goodness, what a good pop record it is. I think I had mentally marked Tally Hall as just one of those "quirky," "fun" bands, five cute boys who write songs about Mary Kate and Ashley ("Two Wuv"), tropical escapades ("Banana Man"), and selling themselves at auction ("The Bidding"). But this is one damn fine pop band. For every line like "I might rap like an English chap/Take you by the knickers and your bum I'll slap", you get something like "You fit just right right next to me" (from radio-ready "Greener") or "What if I told you I could show you something?/What if I told you I could make you live?" (from prettily acoustic "Be Born," my favourite of the lot). The sometimes-silly subject matter doesn't detract from the fact that these are catchy, cleverly-crafted songs.

Is it groundbreaking? Certainly not. But I don't think pop needs to be in order to be good. And with adorably good looks and fun tunes, it seems only a matter of time before Tally Hall becomes the new Next Big Thing, just watch.

But again, it's more complex than the surface lets on. Theme song "Welcome to Tally Hall" centers around playing in suburbia ("So kids pack us your mom's car,/Back up the Windstar/and arrive at the mega-mart...") and dismisses themselves as a mere "puppet show": "A quick distraction, a mechanic attraction/Got a penny in your pocket for the slot rock." In fact, they sum it up nicely in one line: "We think we're playing in a band." So what does that say about us, the listeners, those who are willing to pay a penny for to see this or any other marionette quintet? What is real about any band, anyway? Is it all just pipe dreams and rockstar fantasies?





You can sit there and ponder that out. Or you can just sing along. That's what I do instead.

Tally Hall - "Welcome to Tally Hall"
Tally Hall - "Be Born"

(Side note funny story: the first time I saw Tally Hall, mid-set I turned to my roomie and declared that Rob looked like my ex-boyfriend, Rob. When Tally Hall Rob introduced himself two minutes later, I was freaked out. I told Rob this story, and he was wholly apologetic about it, which was very cute. In an amusing twist of fate, I recently met up with the friend ex Rob left me for, and she agreed that they both look quite alike.)

More Tally Hall Tour Dates.

Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA

1/4/08 Michigan Union Ballroom - Ann Arbor, MI
8/4/08 Jack Rabbit Slim's - Albany, NY
9/4/08 Kirkland Art Center - Clinton, NY
10/4/08 Iron Horse Music Hall - Northampton, MA
11/4/08 Toquet Hall Coffeehouse - Westport, CT
13/4/08 Great Scott - Allston, MA
14/4/08 Southpaw - Brooklyn, NY
15/4/08 Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY
17/4/08 DC Nine - Washington, DC
19/4/08 Salem High School - Canton, MI
Almost all dates are with Republic Tigers.

I'm really SUPER EXCITED 'cos they're playing in NoHo! Yay!

All dates and times are available here.


And, once again, 2008 is turning out to be this really weird version of 2006.

New (re)Release: Tally Hall, Marvin's Marvelous Mechancial Museum

Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA.

Tally Hall are a lovely pop band from gloomy Ann Arbor, MI, and they wrote just for you these irrelevent...oh, wait. Wrong band.*

Well, okay, Tally Hall really is made up of five guys from Ann Arbor, MI, all easily identifiable by which colour tie they wear onstage. (So, instead of being, say, Joey Ramone or Ben Lashes, it's like...Zubin Blue Tie. Sort of. Go look at their 'Space to see what I mean.) And they do play some really great pop rock songs. I saw them open for OK Go two years ago (You mean a band opened for OK Go and I really liked them? Gosh, that NEVER happens!), and they were they really cute and energetic and lots of fun and super-sweet, and my roommate, who would marry all of The Clash if he could, was so smitten that he went and bought a Tally Hall t-shirt. Just making a point. (I was just slightly weirded out by the fact that Rob Yellow Tie looks EXACTLY like my ex-boyfriend named...Rob.)

Tragically, I sort of forgot about them for...well, two years. But lo and behold, on 1 April, the boys will be re-releasing their debut record, Marvin's Marvelous Mechancial Museum (and you accuse me of abusing alliteration...) on Atlantic Records. Which, yay for them. Apparently they've "remixed and remastered it, and now it's FANCIER."

Also, they made a great video for "Good Day":



AND they're going on tour again (kicking off tonight), but nowhere near where I live. Hmph. But if you live on the West Coast or in the Mid-West, do go see them. It'll be good times, I promise.

27/2/08 Modified-Phoenix, AZ
28/2/08 Beauty Bar-San Diego, CA
1/3/08 Troubadour-Los Angeles, CA
2/3/08 Rickshaw Stop-San Francisco, CA
4/3/08 Roseland Grill-Portland, OR
5/3/08 Nectar Lounge-Seattle, WA
7/3/08 Velour-Provo, UT
8/3/08 University of Boulder-Boulder, CO
9/3/08 Hi-Dive-Denver, CO
14/3/08 Home Slice Pizza-Austin, TX
15/3/08 Buffalo Billiards-Austin, TX
The West Tent in Brush Square Park-Austin, TX
17/3/08 Crush Lounge-Tulsa, OK*
18/3/08 The Bluebird-St. Louis, MO*
19/3/08 Vaudeville Mews-Des Moines, IA*
20/3/08 Schubas Tavern-Chicago, IL*
21/3/08 Schubas Tavern-Chicago, IL*
22/3/08 The Intersection-Grand Rapids, MI*
5/4/08 Mac's-Lansing, MI*
6/4/08 Rubble's Bar-Mt. Pleasant, MI*

*w/ The Spinto Band


You can check out some of the new, FANCIER tunes on their 'Space, as well as a cover of The Killers' "Smile Like You Mean It."


*(Oh, come on, admit it, that was FUNNY, right? I'm dead clever.)